Blending & Layering | Furniture Painting Techniques

I’m starting to think I have a furniture-painters’ alter ego. Like Beyoncé and her Sasha Fierce. Conservative and neutral for my own home – but colorful, bold and lively for selling. Today’s retro china cabinet is a perfect example.

This makeover was a creative stretch for me, but boy… did I have fun! I used four (4) beautiful colors along with blending and layering paint techniques to create this gorgeous spring rainbow cabinet!

It’s another one of those pieces that got a whole lot ugly before it looked good, but I L-O-V-E the end result. I can’t help but smile every time I look at it. I hope you feel the same way too. 🙂

Here’s what I started with.

Here’s the ‘spring-inspired’ after! The funny thing is, I started this piece two weeks ago – ditched it – and then came back to it with fresh eyes.

Sometimes with my furniture makeovers, absence makes my heart grow fonder and gives me time to create a vision. The tulips blooming in my garden were what brought me back to this piece. What do you think? Does it remind you of a spring garden rainbow?

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BLENDING & LAYERING FURNITURE PAINTING TECHNIQUES::

Brace yourself. It’s not pretty but here we go… 😉

Step #1 – Clean Sand & Prime

To start the retro cabinet makeover I removed the glass and handles, cleaned the piece, and then gave it a light overall sanding with 220 grit sandpaper. There were some damaged areas that needed a little fix and gouged areas that required more sanding.

Step #2 – Paint The Base Colors of The Cabinet

The inside of this of the cabinet was painted in Kudzu and Rebel Yellow.

Kudzu is a lovely spring green and Rebel Yellow applied to the wet Kudzu created a warm soft blend. Using a spray bottle with small mists of water really helps to achieve this blended look. I’ll share in more details below.

Step #3 – Blending and Layering Paint

Here’s where it gets interesting but still looks pretty scary/ugly. Using Kudzu, Rebel Yellow and Peony, I applied the colors full strength to the front drawers which were previously painted in Cotton. I applied the paint all at the same time (meaning I didn’t wait for one to dry before applying another… I just removed excess paint from my brush before dipping into the next color and painting) so all three colors were wet.

How far down you want your colors to drop is totally up to you. But be aware, once you start spraying and blending, the color will be pulled down further and cover more surface. I painted full strength about 1/3 of the way down and once blended, it covered 2/3 of the front drawers.

Side note – You may notice in the pic below I tried sanding/distressing the inside. I didn’t like the look AT ALL so I repainted it …ugggh. I’m sharing this for all of you who have emailed me saying you “screwed up” your furniture. NO SUCH THING MY CREATIVE FRIENDS! 🙂 It’s a process. Trial and error until you get the look you like. Fix what needs to be fixed or move on to a plan B. Please don’t give up! It’s all part of being creative and learning new techniques. And if we were to stop experimenting and learning, what fun would that be, right?!

Step #4 – Spray and Blend

Below I’m using a spray bottle to lightly mist the layers of WET paint. Don’t wait until the paint dries otherwise you won’t be able to blend it. Once I give the wet paint a light spray, I take my paintbrush and lightly run it in a downwards motion leaving the brush strokes showing at the end. Then I dry my paintbrush on a paper towel and repeat the process until I’ve blended all the colors across the drawers.

There’s no exact science to this. Just play and have fun until you like the effect you see. The more you spray and brush, the more blended and ‘watercolor effect’ the paint becomes. I repeated the process 2x to get the effect I liked.

Step #5 – Dry Brushing Paint Technique

To get the crisp white to blend into the spring colors, I rolled on a heavy coat of Cotton with a high-density roller and then used a chip brush to feather the paint INTO the spring colors above.

The paint on the upper drawers was 100% DRY before I rolled on the Cotton and then dry brushed it upwards.

For this painting technique, I found a cheap chip brush works amazing. Also, holding the chip brush vertically made crisp long brush strokes which I really liked. Another tip is to keep the brush fairly dry! I was continuously wiping off excess paint onto a paper towel.

Step #6 – Final Details and Topcoat/Protect

For the final details, I painted the original handles along with the trim in Cotton. I waited for the paint to dry overnight, and then I top coated and protected this piece in clear wax.

Now I’m heading out to mow my lawns and clean up my gardens while I ponder which piece is next. I’ll be singing a Beyoncé tune at the top of my lungs while I’m at it.

Reader Interactions

Comments (40)

Hi Denise – It must have been karma that I had a look at your spring piece today. I am very new at upstyling/painting furniture. I look at Pinterest and other sites for inspiration and think to myself if only I could do this. What an amazing story you have written to go with this piece. I was feeling rather downhearted after buying a piece for $300 yesterday and when I got it home and had a good look I should have paid around $150 if that. Seeing your work and reading your comments has been great. I have tried blending a few time with little success however after reading your words I will keep trying to get it. Thank you for sharing your beautiful piece and your inspiring words.

Denise, what a fun piece. I love it and you are so good at describing exactly how you got your effect. I learn so much from you. I really wish I could watch you paint a whole piece of furniture.
Cheryl

Hi…..I absolutely love this read and learned something to try but question. When you say wet it with a spray. ottle…..what do u mean, like with water or actually use paint t? If you did, what color paint?
Just curious. Great read and cant wait to try it. Thank u

It’s beautiful and it does remind me of spring tulips. That pink tinted wax technique was simply amazing to look at. I love it even more. Nothing ventured nothing gained and boy that piece gained a lot of beauty.

Truly gorgeous! You did a splendid job of making an ordinary cabinet into a Springy and Happy piece of furniture! If I was you I would be very proud of this creative genius idea! Love the color combinations and blending technique. Great work and I I can’t wait for the next project!

Ahem, first let me pick my jaw up off of the floor. I LOVE this most creative furniture makeover – the vibrant colors, the bleeding layers, the green interior against the pop of white. Don’t even get me started on the photo staging.! You just brightened my rather bland Tuesday afternoon. Gorgeous!!!!

Just Stunning!!! I love how you encourage everyone to work through their “mistakes” I agree, some of my best work has been filled with mistakes that people always want me to recreate, then I don’t even know how I did it!!! Thanks for all you do and share Denise 🙂

Thanks Teri! 🙂 We’ve just started to get half decent temps around here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) so spring is in the air, for sure. I cut every single tulip I had blooming in my garden (that’s the thanks they get for the inspiration!)…but well worth it! LOL

Denise, I love your work and this cabinet is no exception! I’ve seen a lot of pieces done with paint and a spray bottle of water but they look so “drippy and messy”, but I really like the tip where you rolled the white paint into the colors and dry brushed after everything else was dry. The finish like this is really nice!

Hi Jackie! I know what you mean when you say “drippy and messy”… I’ve seen those too. I guess it really depends on the style of the piece/finishes on how much ‘drip’ you can get away with I suppose. Happy you found the dry brush tip helpful. 🙂 🙂 🙂